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Communication Booknotes
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Commonwealth Communications
David Chaney , Lesley Johnson , Raymond Williams , Michele Barrett , Philip Corrigan ,
Annette Kuhn , Janet Wolff , Douglas Pit & Mark Armstrong
Published online: 06 Nov 2009.

To cite this article: David Chaney , Lesley Johnson , Raymond Williams , Michele Barrett , Philip Corrigan , Annette Kuhn ,
Janet Wolff , Douglas Pit & Mark Armstrong (1982) Commonwealth Communications, Communication Booknotes, 13:4, 42-44,
DOI: 10.1080/10948008209488573

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 13:42 / Apr 82 communication
BOOKNOTES
'IBOOKNOTES1'
Joeee Weber-Amouyal, Information •t
pouvoirs (INFORMATION AND POWER] (Paris:
Hatier, 1981, 80 pp.): A left-leaning
mini-anthology of newspaper articles (most
of than from Le Monde) on the manipulatiofl
of the news and the difficulty of being
well-informed.
Jean-Francois Kahn, Liberte, egalite
quand mime (FREEDOM AND EQUALITY, IN SPITE
OF ALL] (Paris: Moreau, 1981, 252 pp.):
Selected by himself, the best 1976-1980 articles
of a brilliant all-media columnist, now the ed-
itor of the revamped weekly Les Nouvelles
(litteraires). Kahn is a passionate defender
of freedom and democracy - and a maverick cri -
ticof all that he feels is wrong in politics
and the media. He can get particularly nasty
with the "mercenary scribblers" of the French
press.
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Francois Chevaldonne, La communication
inegale (THE UNEQUAL COMMUNICATION/ (Paris:
CNRS, 1981, 222 pp., 90 FF.): By a specialist
of audiovisual methods, with a 20 year exper-
ience of North Africa, this is a scholarly
study of communication inequality within a Third
World nation, Algeria. Depending on one's in-
come, job, location, sex, marital status, one
has more or less access to media - and is more
or less prepared for the consumption of them.
It is a pity the style is often sociologically
ponderous, for the material presented is fasci-
nating.
Jean Mineur, Balzac 00-01 (Paris: Plon,
1981, 277 pp.): The autobiography of a man who
moved from journalism into advertising in the
early 1920s, then launched advertising in movie
theaters. His telephone number (the title of
the book) made him, for many years, the only
advertiser to be known by the general public.
A poorly written yet absorbing rags-to-riches
story of an obstinate man who had faith in his
own success.
DAFSA, Les agences de publicite [ADVER-
TISING AGENCIES] (Paris: DAFSA (7 rue Bergere,
75009), 3 745 FF.): The French advertising in-
dustry is here analyzed for professionals (ama-
teurs, note the price). Some attention is paid
the general characteristics of the market, the
major advertisers and the major media - but the
focus is on the ad agencies as a whole and indi-
vidually (for 24 of them): in France, contrary to
the rest of Europe, the market is not dominated by
subsidiaries of U.S. agencies.
Bertschi Annoncen AG, Portraits d'agences
de publicite suisses 82/83 (PORTRAITS OF
SWISS AD AGENCIES/ (ZUrich: Bertschi Annoncen
AG,1981, approx. 600 pp., 45 SF.): A big luxu-
rious guide by and of the Swiss advertising indus-
try. It provides a list of 600 agencies;
self-portraits of 167 of them (all com-
prable because done on the same pattern)
with every left-hand page offering color
samples of their work; and then a list of
thousands of advertising accounts.
Georges Sadoul, Le cinema franiais •
1890-1962 (THE FRENCH CINEMA FROM 1890
R77677(Paris: Flammarion (1962), 1981,
291 pp.): A reprint of a classic by one of
the greatest French historians of film. A
compact survey of the French cinema, fol-
lowed by, over 140 pages, the filmography of
200 movie-makers and a year-by-year chrono-
logy of major French films.
Jacques Siclier, La France de Petain
et son cinema rFRANCE UNDER PETAIN AND
HER CINEMA/ (Paris: Veyrier, 1981, 464 pp.)
By a film critic from Le Monde, a book on
French cinema during World War II, mixing
personal recollections and some historical
research. Basic data is given on all 220
films produced in those years.
D. Heymann and A. Lacombe, L'annee du
cinema 1981 (VIES IN 1981/ (Paris:
Calmann-Levy, 1981, 256 pp.): As every year
a list of over 500 films shown in France
from July to July; reviews of the best
movies; portraits of directors who died:
statistics of the movie industry, etc., and
MO photographs to illustrate the mass of
information.
Commonwealth Communications
With this issue, Booknotes welcomes
Robert White, Director of the Centre
for the Study of Communication and Cul-
ture (London) as our latest overseas
contributor. Bob will keep us in
touch with studies of British media,
communications and related culture ma-
terials. For this first overview, he
writes of recent studies on British
culture:
Americans who have followed the work
of James Carey, Michael Real, Paul
Hirsch and others of the "humanistic,"
cultural studies approach with roots
in British cultural studies will want
to be aware of recent publications in
the cultural studies in Britain. Among
the most important is edited by the
combined team of the Centre for Contem-
porary Cultural Studies, University
of Birmingham, CULTURE, MEDIA, LANGUAGE:
WORKING PAPAERS IN CULTURAL STUDIES, 1972-79
(London: Hutchison & Co., 1980---E10.95).
A key chapter by Stuart Hall traces
the formative intellectual influences
and history of this stream of cultural
studies. A section on media studies
with chapters by Stuart Hall, Dave
Morley and others outline the major
theoretical approaches to media ana-
lysis. Other sections cover working
class culture and the media, language
studies in Britain today. The Centre
for Contemporary Cultural Studies
earlier edited ON IDEOLOGY (London:
Hutchison & Co. 1978), which dis-
cusses the theoretical background of
hegemonic ideologies, a key concept
in much of British media studies, and
 communication
• BOOKNOTES'
analyses the influence of dominant
Ideologies in meida, art, working
class culture and education. John
Clarke, Chas Critcher and Richard
Johnson, in WORKING CLASS CULTURE: STUDIES
IN HISTORY AND THEORY (London: Hutchinson
& Co., 1979---L3.95,-paper) presents
the results of yet another series of
studies at the Centre for Contem-
porary Cultural Studies.
David Chaney in FICTIONS AND CEREMONIES
(London: Edward Arnold, 1979) and
Lesley Johnson in THE CULTURAL CRITICS
(London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1980)
both stress an earlier tradition of
cultural studies in Britain, treating
literature as the "text" revealing
basic issues in social order. Chaney
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draws on Cawelti and McLuhan, Gouldner
and Geertz and is closer to media
studies and research in popular culture.
Johnson is closer to the tradition of
Raymond Williams.
Raymond Williams in MARXISM AND LITERATURE
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977
---E1.95-paper) gives the most compre-
hensive statement of his approach to
cultural studies and outlines his
theory of "cultural materialism". Wil-
liams' POLITICS AND LETTERS: INTERVIEWS
WITH NEW LEFT REVIEW (London: Verso Edi-
tions and New York: Schoken Books,
1979---$27.50) is a series of auto-
biographical interviews giving his
interpretation of his intellectual
journey from childhood to the present.
Many consider Raymond Williams the
"father" of British cultural studies,
and this book provides much insight
into historical and sociocultural
factors in the origins of British cul-
tural studies. PROBLEMS IN MATERIALISM
AND CULTURE (London: Verso Editions and
New York: Schocken Books, 1979---$8.95)
is a statement by Williams of his more
recent explorations in Marxist thought
with a fine essay on "Means of Communi-
cation as Means of Production."
IDEOLOGY AND CULTURAL PRODUCTION , edited by
Michele Barrett, Philip Corrigan,
Annette Kuhn, and Janet Wolff (London:
Croom-Helm, 1979---$25.00), contains
essays analysing the material and ideo-
logical conditions of cultural produc-
tion. They take up key issues in cur-
rent British debate on ideological
theory including economism, the argu-
ment between culturalism and structu-
ralism, determinism and autonomy. Of
related interest, although not strictly
in the cultural studies line, is MASS
MEDIA AND CULTURAL RELATIONSHIPS by Anthony
Piepe, Sunny Crouch and Miles Emerson
(Westmead, Farnborough, Hants, England:
Saxon House, 1979). This identifies
Apr 82 / 13:43
the differential tastes and cultural
influences of television among working
and middle-class viewers in Britain.
A book dealing with a different aspek
British communications is Douglas Pit
THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS FUNCTION IN THE BRITIS.
POST OFFICE: A CASE STUDY OF BUREAUCRATIC APPL1LA-
TION (Westmcad, Farnborough: Saxon House/
Brookfield, Vt.: Renouf USA, 1980---
$27.00). As the title suggests, this is
more a study of organizational behavior
(the author is on the administration fac-
ulty of the University of Strathclyde)
than an analysis of telecommunications
per se. Its 195 pages are divided into
sections on some organizational perspec-
ti'Tes of the British post office, a brief
history of the Victorian telephone system,
the incorporation of telephones into the
B.P.O., a chapter on the important 1932
Bridgeman Committee analysis of telephony,
World War II and the postwar period, the
1961 Post Office Act, and the more recent
developments breaking telecommunications
away from government monopoly. Through-
out, the emphasis is on how the institu-
tion, and the people in it, responded to
changing technology and changing politi-
cal reality. The study is well annotated
and indexed.
Turning to another part of the Commonwealth
we have the following recent titles as
brought to our attention by the indefag
table Henry Mayer of Sydney--our "senior
overseas contributor of a growing list!
Mark Armstrong, ROADCASTING LAW & POLICY
IN AUSTRALIA (North Ryde, NSW, Aust.:
Butterworths, 1982---A$29.50) is the first
book on the subject, and is described by
Mayer as "authoritative, succinct, excel-
lent with some dry wit--indispensible..."
The author, a senior lecturer in law at
the University of New South Wales has
written both a descriptive and critical
study, pointing out aspects of the legal
approach down under that need change to
meet expressed needs of the country. The
292 pages are tightly written (paragraphs
are titled and numbered--and in both table
of contents and index) with chapters on
the foundations of broadcasting law, the
scheme of legislation, an historical out-
line,•general rules on program(me)s,
special rules, the Australian Broadcasting
Commission and the Special Broadcasting Ser-
vice, planning and technical issues, the
licensing powers, tribunal inquiries, the
rules and enforcement (two chapters) on
ownership and control, and a final chap-
 13:44 / Apr 82 communication
• BOOKNOTES1
ter on rebroadcasting stations. Some
35 pages of appendix deal with members
of various groups, licenses and applica-
tions, major official reports, a biblio-
In all, this is an impres-
graphy, etc.
sive analysis of a complicated area--but
it makes possible more adequate cross-
cultural and national analysis of differ-
ing systems of communications control.
Would that similiar studies existed for
other broadcast (or media in general)
systems!
NEW MEDIA: LAW AND POLICY: PAPERS FROM THE
SEMINAR ON MEDIA LAW, 22 AUGUST 1981 (Ms. Jane
Trethewey, Faculty of Law, University of
New South Wales, P.O. Box 1, Kensington
2033, NSW---A$15.00) includes discussion
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of the fundamental changes brought about
by the 1981 Broadcasting and Television
Amendment Act, the option of new services,
control of networks, and supplementary
licenses, benifits of new technology for
the public, and can law and policy catch
up with these changes?
BROADCASTING IN AUSTRALIA: TODAY'S ISSUES
AND THEFUTURE edited by Brenden O'Dwyer
(Center for Continuing Education, Aus-
tralian National University, P.O. Box 4,
Canberra 2600---A$15.00) consists of
some 30 papers in 280 pages from a 1980
conference which cover just about all
aspects of Australian radio-TV.
THE ABC--AUNT SALLY AND THE SACRED COW
by Clement Semmier (Melbourne Universi-
ty Press, 1981---A$21.60) is a 232 page
serious study with a strong point of
view (favorable to a public broadcasting
monopoly)which Mayer says should not
put off potential users of an interest-
ing study with new points of view and
information worth reading.
THE ABC IN REVIEW: NATIONAL BROADCASTING
IN THE 1980S: REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE OF REVIEW
OF THE AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING COMMISSION (DIX
COMMITTEE) (Canberra: AGPS, 1981---A$27.00):
this is the two volume current govern-
ment analysis (of five, total) of ABC.
As with such reports, there are vast
amounts of data and detail here in some
500 pages. By now, all five volumes
are likely available.
HOW TO USE THE MEDIA IN AUSTRALIA by Iola
Mathews (Melbourne: Fontana/Collins,
1981---A$5.95) is a 220 page "how to"
book said by Mayer to be above average
for the type. There are sample cases
and data on various print and broadcast
media. There's a good media directory--
but no index.
Other Foreign Communications
An interesting study to compare with
Boyd's (see Book of the Month) is
William Adams, ed. TELEVISION COVERAGE OF
THE MIDDLE EAST (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex
Publishing, 1981---$17.50) which is the
first of a three volume series of books
on television news (the two forthcoming
to deal with coverage of international
affairs generally, and the 1980 U.S.
political campaign specifically). This
167 page compilation focuses on three
specific news events: the Iranian hos-
tage crisis, the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan, and Egyption president
Sadat's trip to Jerusalem. he eight
studies here are all previously unpublish-
ed, and deal with both formal content
analyses, and more theoretical studies
of images and themes. Regular network
newscasts as well as documentaries are
included in the analysis. The studies,
by a variety of American scholars, most
of whom have Middle East experience as
well as research backgrounds are all
annotated and supplemented with tables.
A guide to such research is found in
Alex S. Edelstein, COMPARATIVE COMMUNICA-
TION RESEARCH (Beverly Hills, Ca.: Sage,
1982---$14.00/6.95), a recent title in
the expanding short text "CommText"
series. Edelstein, with the Interna-
tional Communications Center at the Uni-
versity of Washington, has written an
integrated guide to comparative (two
or more country) research covering such
topics as communicating modernization,
economic development communication, the
new world information order, differing
views of value and culture, the construc-
tion of images, the role of the journal-
ist, the idea of system, and information
societies. The 150 page study is to
a considerable degree a review of lit-
erature over the past three decades or
so--and all are listed at the end. But
lack of an index (a typical Sage drawback)
limits usefulness of the book.
Manfred Mayer, ed. HEALTH EDUCATION BY
TELEVISION AND RADIO: CONTRIBUTIONS TO AN
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE WITH A SELECTED BIB-
LIOGRAPHY (Munich and New York: K.G.
Saur, 1981---DM 42.--, paper) is the
fifth title in the publisher's "Communi-
cation Research and Broadcasting" series
which began in 1979. By far the longest
of the series to date, this 476 page
compilation is divided into the following
sections, each with numerous contributions
health education and broadcasting,
approaches and findings of communication